CHEAT/ALFALFA HAY

[piedmontese]

how good of hay is cheat? a guy has cheat/alfalfa rounds for sale.he says they are about 75% cheat amd the cheat had not turned colors before it was cut.hes $25 a bale and they weigh 1,250lbs.so the price is right but is the hay decent and will the cows eat it.i mostly fed failed milo and cornstalks all winter and supplementd with protein tubs and they did pretty good on that.it looks as though theres gonna b alot more hay this yr so prices will b lower but i dont wanna wait until the fall to buy.i'm trying to buy as much as i can as i go so i dont hav so much $$ to come up with later.plus its early and everyone is excited about all the rain but if it gets dry again hays gonna get high again.i'm needing a total of about 150 bales if i buy bales weighing at least 1,200.

 

[sizmic]

If I were you, I wouldn't touch it!!! Hopefully the seller is a little far away from you!

Sizmic

 

[heath]

What's wrong with cheat hay? Never fed it, but the quick search I did on it seems to be high in protein.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Cheat grass is AWFUL
After a drought and a wet spring we had it come in thick. Its something we have a little of all the time but growing conditions were perfect for it. I lost three calves before I figured out what was wrong.
Cheat grass in the growing stage is like pouring corn to them, two weeks latter it has a value less than straw.
I knew I had an acidosis problem but I kept looking to my feed. It wasn't till I noticed a few of the calves weren't eating the feed anymore and got to looking at them scarfing up the grass that I took a sample of it and low and behold it was the cheat grass causing acidosis.

If it was cut at the right time(very short window) it might feed real good-- I sure would hate to be seeding it though.
A few weeks of good grazing and junk the rest of the year is not good.
On the up side it doesn't seem to be able to compete with fescue that is growing good.